Metro-North Service Limited Monday, But Better Than Friday

Normal Service Projected For Oct. 8

Power should be fully restored to Metro-North's New Haven line by Oct. 8, not on Oct. 14 as originally thought, the governor said in a press briefing Monday.

Gov. Dannel P Malloy also said he is "confident" that his calls for reimbursements to ticketholders whose commutes were disrupted would not be ignored.

A makeshift power source in Westchester County, N.Y., is allowing Metro-North to run at 50 percent capacity, but the MTA suggests that riders on the New Haven line continue to telecommute if possible.

A reduced schedule of trains continues, with riders east of Stamford having to change in Stamford, even though some trains are able to run on electric wires all the way to Grand Central Terminal.

A lot of commuters were arriving earlier than usual at Union Station in New Haven Monday morning to ensure they'd get on a train that would get them to New York on time. One woman from Killingly arrived 90 minutes earlier than normal.

Alissa Kelley of Hamden said it's been "standing room only" on the trains, with people standing three deep. She can't work on the train the way she normally does, she said.

"So, we're little sardines," she said.

She noticed the problem on the train from Stamford to New Haven, she said.

New Haven has only three departures between 6:45 a.m. and 7:45 a.m., and the latest one doesn't arrive at Grand Central until 9:36 a.m. But Stamford commuters will have seven departures between 6:44 a.m. and 8 a.m.

Three of those are buses to the station in White Plains, N.Y., which will take longer than even the slower diesel train service.

In addition, eastbound New Haven Line commuters traveling near Mount Vernon should anticipate delays of up to 15 minutes due to a power failure in the area, the MTA announced in an emailed alert at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Angela Yannes leaves Milford at 6:30 a.m. to arrive at her job at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan at 8:30 a.m. on a normal day. On Thursday and Friday, the train to Stamford, and then the diesel train into the city, took 15 to 20 minutes longer. But she said Monday's schedule looks like it will be slower still, by 10 minutes, as the train will make all stops.

She asked: "Shouldn't it be getting better, not worse?

"Ten minutes to most people doesn't sound like a big deal," she said, but when her Metro-North ride is already 90 minutes, and then she has to take a subway for 15 to 20 minutes, it's painful.

Plus, she said, each morning since the failure, she's had to stand from Stamford to Grand Central. She typically sleeps in the mornings on the train. "It's just tiring," she said of the longer commutes.

Yannes, 27, works in a lab as a molecular technologist, so working from home isn't an option.

She said she hopes the repair estimate time is too pessmistic, as it was for the last two times the line was damaged.

A fix to the Con Edison feeder cable is not expected for a week, and after about 12 hours of testing, the MTA is projecting regular service will return Oct. 8.

An additional transformer might be allow another train to run until then, the governor said in his 10 a.m. briefing Monday.

Asked if he wants an investigation of what went wrong, Malloy said, "I'm most particularly concerned that the MTA and Metro-North learn from this experience." He doesn't want to see the MTA relying on power from a single feeder line, he said.

"No more single feeds, and rectify those situations when there are single feeds," he said. He also directed the state Department of Transportation to do a study to find out if there are any similar situations that could occur in Connecticut.

"I don't want to see that happen anywhere else on the line, and I certainly don't want to see that happen in Connecticut," Malloy said.

New on Monday is bus service that will run from large parking lots to train stations and subway lines. The closest free park-and-ride to Connecticut is from Rye Playland in Rye, N.Y., to the White Plains station.

New Haven tickets are also being honored on the Harlem and Hudson lines for commuters who want to drive directly to those stations. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says there's more capacity on the Hudson than there is on the Harlem line, even with extra cars added to some Harlem line trains.

For full details, call 1-877-690-5114 or visit http://www.mta.info.

"All indications right now point to another tough commute," Malloy said in a statement released Sunday evening. "Even with some electric service restored, there will be very limited service and significant overcrowding on trains. If at all possible, I would urge residents to consider working from home or shifting their time of travel to off-peak periods. If you have to drive, consider carpooling. Our state Department of Transportation is continuing to do their best to ensure that travel on the roadways moves as efficiently as possible during this situation."